Visit the Kent County EMS Home Page.

When do you need to contact EMS quickly to save a life?
Emergency medical services personnel are prepared to respond quickly to provide medical care for everything from minor injuries to life threatening illness and injury. However, in order for EMS to respond quickly, you must make the call for help quickly. In many communities, including in all areas of Kent County, enhanced 911 systems are in place to make placing an emergency call easy. What you should know about 911.

You should remember to call 911 immediately in any situation where someone's life or health could be in jeopardy. This includes the following situations:

• A person has stopped breathing or is having difficulty breathing. (review rescue-breathing procedure.)
• A person has become unconscious due to illness or injury and you cannot wake them. (review first aid for an unconscious person)
• A person has been injured and there is serious bleeding, either spurting blood or just steady bleeding that cannot be controlled. (review methods to control bleeding)
• A person has symptoms of a brain attack (review the symptoms of a brain attack)

Learn the importance of calling 911 quickly in a medical emergency and what to do and what not to do when you recognize serious symptoms.
When you recognize any of the symptoms mentioned above, it is important to Call 911First. Only calling 911 can start emergency responders to your assistance. DO NOT CALL your doctor, family member or clergy. Delaying the call to 911 only delays the dispatch of lifesaving assistance. Minutes saved can make the difference between life and death. The single greatest reason for a low survival rate from prehospital illness is the delay in calling 911 on the part of those witnessing the event.

When you call 911, you will likely be put in contact with someone who is trained to evaluate your call and provide you with information on how to provide medical assistance. Try to remain calm while on the phone, and don't hang up the phone until the dispatcher has hung up.

Learn what happens when you call 911 for a medical emergency in the Kent County area.
Just what happens when you call 911 will depend on your location. In Kent County several things will happen. An ambulance will be dispatched to provide medical care and transportation if needed. Your location and the seriousness of the illness or injury may determine how quickly the ambulance responds to you. All ambulances in the Kent County area are staffed with trained paramedics.

• Because of the need for rapid treatment in some instances, a fire department or police department vehicle may also be sent to provide assistance. These medical first responders will generally respond more quickly than the ambulance and are prepared to provide life saving care until the ambulance arrives and takes over medical care. They may stay to assist the paramedics on the ambulance if needed. All medical first responders also carry Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to use in cases of cardiac arrest.

Learn about your emergency medical services system.
Emergency medical services in Kent County are provided by a system of non-transporting (fire and police departments) and transporting (ambulance) services.

Non-transporting Services
There are 35 non-transporting services in the Kent County area. The non-transporting services are located in strategic areas of the county, typically in fire stations. They are designed to respond quickly to medical emergencies and provide life saving care until an ambulance arrives. They may respond in a fire engine or a police car, and all non-transporting EMS vehicles in Kent County are equipped with Automated External Defibrillators for treatment of cardiac arrest victims. The fire departments are also trained and equipped for many specialty situations such as extrication from a car crash.

Ambulance Services
There are four ground ambulance services and one air ambulance in the Kent County area. All ground ambulances are staffed with licensed paramedics and are prepared to provide life saving care both on the scene of the emergency and enroute to the hospital. The air ambulance is staffed by an emergency physician and nurse and is prepared to provide an even higher level of care in those instances where such care is warranted or when high-speed transportation to a hospital is indicated. All four ground ambulances are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services and the air ambulance is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Air Ambulance Services.

Kent County Emergency Medical Services, Inc. is designated by the State of Michigan as the medical control authority for Kent and parts of Ottawa County.

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